am Outlaw – one of Los Angeles’s only modern country artists – was presented with the International Album of the Year Award for his acclaimed, Ry Cooder produced debut album Angeleno at the UK Americana Awards 2017. Tenderheart,is his much anticipated sophomore LP.
The 13-track collection of originals was recorded in the San Fernando Valley and co-produced by Outlaw alongside Martin Pradler. Outlaw enlisted many of the same musicians that made his first album, harmony singer Molly Jenson, pedal steel pro Jeremy Long and guitarist Danny Garcia, along with Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket).
In addition, Tenderheart features local mariachi group Erwin Vasquez and Mariachi Teocuitatlan. Outlaw offers an extraordinary refinement of the artistic identity laid out on Angeleno. Sonically, the album elaborates on his “SoCal Country” sound: a sun-bleached, Baja-influenced twang that deftly points to country’s neo-traditionalists and LA’s legendary singer-songwriters. Thematically, ‘Tenderheart’ is a thesis on self-discovery and the power of love –- Outlaw meditates on his own conflicted quest for peace amidst the chaos of his chosen path.

Angaleena Presley will follow her acclaimed 2014 American Middle Class withWrangled, her second full-length solo album, on April 21 via Mining Light Music/Thirty Tigers. The album is co-produced by Angaleena and Oran Thornton and features 12 tracks, all of which were co-written by Presley. One of the album’s many highlights is “Cheer Up Little Darling” written by Angaleena and her dear friend,Guy Clark. The song — the last song completed by Guy before his death — features Shawn Camp playing Guy’s No. 10 guitar, which was used to write the song with Guy, and Guy’s mandola, which Guy had been learning to play during the last year of his life. With Wrangled, the ebony haired songwriter from Beauty, Kentucky ups the bar, widening her range and finding metaphors and doppelgangers for feminism, the music business and the unseen underclass who’s just trying to get by. But as thrilling as that is, Wrangled also opens a portal into a new kind of country: textural, trippy, frozen in time, urgent, tranquil, but then raw punk and rural.

Angaleena Presley has been touring regularly over in the UK since 2014 and most recently toured with Brandi Carlile in November 2016 and February 2017 to participate in the UK Americana Awards.

Colter Wall is a 21 years old Saskatchewan born songwriter and performing musician. Wall’s sound is comprised of resonate and raw baritone vocals, Folk and Bluegrass style guitar and banjo picking, steady kick-drum stomping, and visually provoking, story telling lyrics. Wall Draws influence from legends of the past such as Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, and The Band, as well as more modern Americana pioneers including Shovels and Rope, Jack White, Ray Lamontagne, and Shakey Graves. Despite only recently beginning his musical career, Colter Wall has been seen in the company of Saskatchewan’s infamous gritty bluegrass trailblazers,The Dead Southreleased an EP Imaginary Appalachian in the summer of 2015 from which Sleeping On The Blacktop ended up in the movie Hell or High Water in 2016. From dive bars to fundraiser galas, Colter Wall has a history of leaving audiences in shock at the maturity of his voice as well as his songwriting. Currently settled in Kentucky Colter will be releasing his debut 11 track album produced by Dave Cobb in May 2017 – featuring all his own compositions except Snake Mountain Blues (Townes Van Zandt)

“Colter sings and writes songs in ways seemingly lost in time. There is an agelessness about him so unusual in someone so young” – RICK RUBIN

“Colter Wall is bar-none the best young singer-songwriter I’ve seen in twenty years.” – Steve Earle

On his last two albums, Jason Eady earned major acclaim for his ahead-of-the-curve take on classic country, a bold departure from his earlier excursions into blues-infused Americana. Now with his sixth album, the Mississippi-bred singer/guitarist merges his distinct sensibilities into a stripped-down, roots-oriented sound that starkly showcases the gritty elegance of his songwriting.

The follow-up to 2014’s critically praised Daylight/Dark—an album that “belongs on a shelf next to Dwight Yoakam’s Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room, Joe Ely’s Letter to Laredo, and yes, even Willie Nelson’s Phases and Stages,” according to AllMusic—Eady’s latest finds the Fort Worth, Texas-based artist again teaming up with producer Kevin Welch. Now longtime collaborators (with their past efforts including 2012’s AM Country Heaven, a top 40 debut on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart), Eady and Welch worked closely in crafting the album’s acoustic-driven yet lushly textured aesthetic. “At the beginning I told everyone I wanted to make a record where, if the power went out, we could still sit down and play all the songs the exact same way,” says Eady, who points out that steel guitar is the only electric instrument featured on the album.

Despite its subtle approach, the album radiates a warm vitality that’s got much to do with Eady’s gift for nuanced yet unaffected slice-of-life storytelling. “I’ve always been drawn to writing that’s got a simplicity to it, where you’re digging deep into real day-to-day life,” he notes. Here, that means touching on such matters as turning 40 (on the reflective, soul-stirring “40 Years”), his daughter’s growing up and going off to college (on the sweetly heartbreaking “Not Too Loud”), and the everyday struggle to “embrace the messy parts of life instead of trying to get the point where you’ve somehow fixed all your problems” (on “Rain,” a joyfully determined anthem featuring SteelDrivers fiddler Tammy Rogers). Throughout the album, Eady’s soulfully rugged voice blends in beautiful harmonies with his wife, singer/songwriter Courtney Patton. And on “No Genie in This Bottle,” the legendary Vince Gill lends his singular vocals to what Eady refers to as a “good old country drinking song.”

In each track, Eady reveals a sharp sense of songcraft he’s honed since childhood. “Even back in my early days of getting into music, I always cared more about the writers than the singers,” says Eady, who grew up in Jackson. “I’d look up who’d written a certain song, and then go seek out more songs from that writer.” At age 14—the same year he started writing his own material—Eady began performing in local bars and showing his natural grasp of everything from soul and R&B to blues and country. After some time in the Air Force, he moved to Fort Worth and started playing open mic nights, where he quickly built up a devoted following. By 2005, Eady had made his debut with the independently released From Underneath The Old.

For Eady—who names Merle Haggard, Guy Clark, and Willie Nelson among his main inspirations—instilling each song with so much graceful honesty proved to be his greatest achievement and thrill in creating the new album. “When you first get started making music, your ideas are grandiose and more about the big picture. But the longer I’ve done this, the more I’ve realized that the real joy comes from the process rather than the end goal,” he says. “Now it’s about getting better and finding more of myself with every album. So instead of writing what I think people want to hear, I’m writing what I want to write and trusting that—as long as it’s coming from an honest place—it’ll hopefully mean something to the people listening too.”

Tracklisting

1. Barabbas
2. Drive
3. Black Jesus
4. No Genie in this Bottle
5. Why I Left Atlanta
6. Rain
7. Where I’ve Been
8. Waiting to Shine
9. Not to Loud
10. 40 Years

Celebrated, Grammy Award-winning band The Mavericks, release their first independent studio album Brand New Day on their own label Mono Mundo Recordings/Thirty Tigers, after years on major labels.

The 10 songs that make up Brand New Day feature The Mavericks genre-defying style. Tthe album opens with the tejano/bluegrass-inspired “Rolling Along”, which sets a tone before the wall-of-sound power of the title track. From the ‘60’s flavored “Easy As It Seems” to the accordion-fueled shuffle of “I Will Be Yours” to the heart-melting beauty of “Goodnight Waltz”, Brand New Day finds the eclectic unit as inspired, passionate and commanding as ever. The Mavericks formed in Miami, FL in the late-1980’s, eventually moving to Nashville and launching an incredible career that featured hits, sold out tours and the creation of a large and loyal fan base.

The Mavericks created a one-of-a-kind sound that seamlessly blended elements of rock, Latino, folk, blues, country and more. Following a nine year hiatus, The Mavericks led by the mesmerizing vocals of Raul Malo, the driving swing of drummer Paul Deakin, the masterful playing of guitarist Eddie Perez and eccentric style of keyboardist Jerry Dale McFadden, re- formed in 2012 to release two more highly acclaimed studio albums and toured relentlessly ever since bringing their exhilarating live shows to longtime fans.

Sam Outlaw – one of Los Angeles’s only modern country artists – was presented with the International Album of the Year Award for his acclaimed, Ry and Joachim Cooder produced debut album ‘Angeleno’ at the UK Americana Awards 2017. Tenderheart, is his much anticipated sophomore LP.
The 13-track collection of originals was recorded in the San Fernando Valley and co-produced by Outlaw alongside Martin Pradler. Outlaw enlisted many of the same musicians that made his first album, 2015’s ‘Angeleno,’ an undisputed breakthrough and one of the best-reviewed debuts of that year: harmony singer Molly Jenson, pedal steel pro Jeremy Long and guitarist Danny Garcia, along with Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) and Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket).
In addition, ‘Tenderheart’ features local mariachi group Erwin Vasquez and Mariachi Teocuitatlan. Outlaw offers an extraordinary refinement of the artistic identity laid out on ‘Angeleno’. Sonically, the album elaborates on his “SoCal Country” sound: a sun-bleached, Baja-influenced twang that deftly points to country’s neo-traditionalists and LA’s legendary singer-songwriters. Thematically, ‘Tenderheart’ is a thesis on self-discovery and the power of love –- Outlaw meditates on his own conflicted quest for peace amidst the chaos of his chosen path.

Angaleena Presley will follow her acclaimed 2014 American Middle Class with Wrangled, her second full-length solo album, on April 21 via Mining Light Music/Thirty Tigers. The album is co-produced by Angaleena and Oran Thornton and features 12 tracks, all of which were co-written by Presley. One of the album’s many highlights is “Cheer Up Little Darling” written by Angaleena and her dear friend,Guy Clark. The song — the last song completed by Guy before his death — features Shawn Camp playing Guy’s No. 10 guitar, which was used to write the song with Guy, and Guy’s mandola, which Guy had been learning to play during the last year of his life.
Angaleena Presley has been touring regularly over in the UK since 2014 and most recently toured with Brandi Carlile in November 2016 and February to participate in the UK Americana Awards and will return to set up the record in early April 2017

With Jason Eady’s sixth album, the Mississippi-bred singer/guitarist merges his distinct sensibilities into a stripped-down, roots-oriented sound that starkly showcases the gritty elegance of his songwriting. The follow-up to 2014’s critically praised Daylight/Dark, Eady’s latest finds the Fort Worth, Texas-based artist again teaming up with producer Kevin Welch. Now longtime collaborators (with their past efforts including 2012’s AM Country Heaven, a top 40 debut on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart), Eady and Welch worked closely in crafting the album’s acoustic-driven yet lushly textured aesthetic, touching on such matters as turning 40 , his daughter’s growing up and going off to college and the everyday struggle to “embrace the messy parts of life instead of trying to get the point where you’ve somehow fixed all your problems”. Throughout the album, Eady’s soulfully rugged voice blends in beautiful harmonies with his wife, singer/songwriter Courtney Patton. Eady, who grew up in Jackson at age 14the same year he started writing his own material, he began performing in local bars. After some time in the Air Force, he moved to Fort Worth and started playing open mic nights, where he quickly built up a devoted following. 2005, Eady had made his debut with From Underneath The Old.

the debut album from Worry Dolls – a young female duo born out of the joint talents of Zoe Nicol and Rosie Jones. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Neilson Hubbard (Matthew Perryman Jones), a veteran of East Nashville’s music scene and featuring songwriting collaborations with Jeff Cohen (Teitur), Ben Glover (Gretchen Peters), Joe Doyle (Reba Mcentire) & stunning playing from Wild Ponies, Eamon McLoughlin (Ashley Monroe), Kenny Hutson (Little Big Town) & more.

Rosie grew up singing and playing a variety of instruments in a music-filled household in Devon, picking up guitar after finding an old nylon-string under the stairs. As a teenager, Rosie’s musical diet was a mix of punk bands & angsty singer songwriters, finding country through a friend’s copy of Ryan Adams’ ‘Heartbreaker’. At 17, she wrote a song called Tennessee about wanting to live in Nashville and get her heart broken so that she could write songs like the ones she loved.

Zoe, whose family originate from Liverpool and Ireland, was raised in a small village in Kent by her mum. She inherited music from her parents who, although separated, were both performers which resulted in a childhood spent back and forth between her mum’s theatrical rehearsals and her dad’s club gigs. At 12, she started learning to play her dad’s old Spanish guitar to accompany herself, drawing inspiration from Eva Cassidy and Joni Mitchell; the songs poured out.

Worry Dolls met in Liverpool when they were 18, both on their chosen path of becoming solo singer songwriters, Rosie joined Zoe’s band as a mandolin player and backing vocalist and their great chemistry and love of harmony led to them starting a contemporary bluegrass band. Paired by their teachers for an opportunity to have their songwriting critiqued by Paul McCartney, they were inspired to start co-writing, and could now be described as an almost telepathically linked songwriting force.

GO GET GONE featuring the singles Bless Your Heart, Miss You Already and Train’s Leaving will be released on January 27th, 2017 on Vinyl, CD and all digital outlets via Bread & Butter Music.

6th January 2016, London, UK – Grammy Award-winning rapper Lupe Fiasco announces the release of his highly anticipated sixth studio album, Drogas Light. Set for release on 10th February 2016, it will be the first album Lupe releases on his own label, 1st & 15th/Thirty Tigers.

Drogas Light is the first of a trilogy of albums (Drogas Light, Drogas and Skulls) which see Lupe Fiasco reach his creative peak – the final curtain call on one of the most gifted lyricists and visionaries to grace the mic. A testament to Fiasco’s artistic growth throughout the years Drogas Light is the embodiment of a musician whose foray beyond the boundaries of hip-hop feels increasingly natural, a glimpse into the genius that will be Fiasco’s legacy as he inevitably walks away from the spotlight.

Featuring artists such as Ty Dolla $ign, Rick Ross and BIG K.R.I.T, the 14-track LP is free of restraint, and daring by Lupe’s standards: the sonic and storytelling palettes are vast and diverse, more so than ever before, traipsing genre and style with ease and touting songs to soundtrack everything from a night at the club to a quiet listen on headphones.

Influenced by Jay-Z, Common, and Nas, Lupe Fiasco broke onto the hip-hop scene in 2006 with his debut album Lupe Fiasco’sFood and Liquor. His hit single Daydreaming off of his debut album went on to win a Grammy in 2008, while he has received 12 Grammy nominations throughout his career. Powered by his proven lyrical prowess and remarkable artistic vision, Drogas Lightis the latest chapter in Fiasco’s impressive career since parting with Atlantic Records in 2014.

Only members can vote – please take the time to have your say – the Awards show is a flagship event for the membership and the wider Americana community in the UK and beyond, and we really hope the whole membership will get involved.

The Black Lillies are a band for the ages: not slick, commercialised music, but rich, soulful tunes performed with as much heart as technical virtuosity. This commitment to authenticity has earned them accolades from outlets as diverse as NPR, CMT, American Songwriter, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, and Rolling Stone, who named the band one of the “10 Artists You Need to Know.” The Black Lillies have won three Independent Music Awards, played the Grand Ole Opry more than any other independent band (more than 35 times, to date), and enthralled audiences at festivals ranging from Bonnaroo, SXSW, High Sierra, and Rochester International Jazz Fest to CMA FanFair, MerleFest and Stagecoach. The music is breakneck, brazen and beautiful; lush Laurel Canyon folk, spirited Muscle Shoals soul, the honky-tonk heartache of classic country, winding jams and flat-out rock’n’roll … full of the spirit of the open road, rolling down the highway and not about to stop anytime soon!
“one of roots music’s most talented outfits.” – american songwriter magazine

The country-pop singer’s infatuation with Texas’ rich musical culture, from stage to studio to dance floor, informs an enthralling new project, a love letter to the Lone Star State. Her new EP,South Texas Suite, is a touch nostalgic, deeply romantic and defiantly personal — it’s Texas, through Whitney Rose’s eyes and ears.

She recorded South Texas Suite over two days at Dale Watson’s Ameripolitan Studios in North Austin, accompanied by Grammy winner Redd Volkaert, Merle Haggard’s former guitarist; Earl Poole Ball, who spent two decades tickling keyboards for Johnny Cash; Kevin Smith, now playing bass in Willie Nelson’s Family Band; and Tom Lewis, who’s drummed with the Mavericks, among others. Lewis also plays in Rose’s band, along with guitarist Bryce Clark, steel player James Shelton and acoustic guitarist Sophia Johnson. They’re also on the EP, along with fiddler Erik Hokkanen and accordionist Michael Guerra. No self-respecting two-stepper would take to a dance-hall floor without Rose’s favourite footwear; her heel-stomping honky-tonk ode to that Texas wardrobe essential, “My Boots,” is also a feminist statement“I’ll go if I can wear my boots/I don’t feel like high heel shoes”,she sings in her sugary-smooth voice.

Three-time Grammy award winner Delbert McClinton and Self-Made Men will release their newest recording, Prick Of The Litter. Prick Of The Litter contains 12 new songs that feature the soulful blend of blues, jazz, country and rock that has become synonymous with McClinton’s distinctive style. His songs and soul-stirring performances have connected with audiences across the country as well as his peers. Throughout the decades, McClinton has ridden the wave of major label success, penned songs that have been cut by successful country and blues artists, collaborated with artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt to Tanya Tucker and continued to create relevant and distinctive music.

The songs and vibe of Prick Of The Litter reflect a jazzier side of McClinton, beautifully capturing where the revered artist is in his life and career. The theme of romance, and his signature sense of humor shine throughout on songs such as “Middle Of Nowhere” and “Like Lovin’ Used To Be” while on “Jones For You” McClinton describes a character giving up his vices and struggling to be a better man. The band’s use of space and groove inspired by Johnny Mercer, Nat King Cole and other crooners sets the stage for McClinton’s weathered vocal which has only gotten sweeter with time.

Prick Of The Litter was recorded with the support of McClinton’s working band, Self- Made Men

Groundbreaking independent country artist Aaron Watson continues to chart his own course with the February 24th release of his new album Vaquero (BIG Label Records/Thirty Tigers). Watson made history in 2015 when his 10th studio album, The Underdog debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart marking the first time an independent, male country artist had ever debuted at the coveted top spot. Watson’s unprecedented accomplishment turned heads and opened many eyes to what he had been building independently for years. The new 16-song collection finds the Texas native following the trail back to his roots, keying in on his influences and tipping his hat to the fans and family who helped set the foundation for his success.
Vaquero, which means the ‘original cowboy’. Throughout, he depicts stories of a rugged people, humble but hardworking, like himself. He puts a playful spin on an insider’s view on the Texan way of life with “Amen Amigo” and delivers life lessons courtesy of an old vaquero with the title track. On the poignant “Diamonds & Daughters,” he opens up his heart for his little girl. “Mariano’s Dream” is a companion piece to “Clear Isabel” and on “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To” he sings of the longing for the nostalgia of an earlier time. Watson co-produced Vaquero with award-winning producer Marshall Altman.